


Overdue

by GenKay



Category: Cobra Kai (Web Series)
Genre: Anger, Angst, Cliffhangers, Conversations, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Heart-to-Heart, Resentment, Teacher-Student Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-16
Updated: 2020-11-16
Packaged: 2021-03-10 07:27:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27589528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GenKay/pseuds/GenKay
Summary: All this could’ve been avoided had they simply talked to each-other. Had an honest heart-to-heart conversation. That’s what everyone kept telling him anyway. That was the only way to fix things.Johnny was finally ready for that now… to have the conversation that was long overdue.Oneshot. Post-Season 2 AU.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 34





	Overdue

_ You need to talk to him. You need to ask him how he is doing yourself.  _

The words echoed in Johnny’s head as he sat on the hard bench, waiting for his son to be brought to him. He hadn’t planned on being there. He hadn’t had the courage to face Robby after what had happened. He’d only wanted to get an update from Daniel Larusso about Robby’s… situation. 

_ “I got him a lawyer. He’s good.” Daniel had informed him, reluctantly. “But you need to check in on your son yourself.” _

_ “He doesn’t want to see me.” Johnny had replied. “He… hates me. Everything he does, he does to piss me off.” _

_ “And why do you think that is? He’s a kid, Johnny. He wants attention.” _

_ “Well, you gave him plenty of that.” Johnny had been unable to keep the bitterness out of his voice. _

_ “No… attention from you.” Daniel had clarified, sadly. “Why do you think he came to work for me of all people? He didn’t know me. He did that to piss you off. He wanted you to get angry and… and I guess… stake your claim or something.” _

_ “That doesn’t make any sense.” _

_ “He’s a teenager. Nothing they do makes sense.” Daniel had sighed. “But Robby… he… well, the only time you seemed to give a damn about him was when you were pissed off at him. So he decided to piss you off so you’d give damn.” _

LaRusso was wrong… that’s what Johnny told himself as he left his house. His logic was backwards and twisted and… and it had the ring of truth to it. Before Daniel, the only times Johnny had talked to Robby had been to berate him about his screwups - about dealing drugs or quitting school or lying about him. Ofcourse the kid thought that that was the only way to make him pay attention. 

Even so… after what he did to Miguel…

Well, not like Johnny had anything left to lose anyway. Miguel’s life was out of danger, but he was still in a coma. Carmen wanted nothing to do with him. Kreese had stolen his dojo and all his students had betrayed him.

And his son was in juvie, awaiting trial. 

Maybe talking to Robby would end up being the first step towards fixing things. If only Robby felt the same. 

He had the usual coldly sullen look on his face when they brought him in. This wasn’t going to be easy - Johnny knew that right away. Unlike Miguel, who wore his heart on his sleeve, Robby had had years of practice keeping his guard up. And that was something he’d gotten from Johnny. 

_ Never show your emotions.  _ That had been one of the life-lessons Kreese had taught him. The one he’d spent his life following.  _ Showing emotions was the same as showing weakness. If your enemies know what you want, they’ll use that against you. Never show them your tears. _

Who were “them”, though? Like most things, this advice from Kreese had been bullshit as well. And now Johnny had to wonder how much of this mess could’ve been avoided if only he’d shown his son his emotions. If he hadn’t let the pride of being the tough guy get in the way of letting him know how much he cared for him. 

“Didn’t think you were gonna show up.” Robby said, quietly, as he sat down opposite to him. 

This was nothing like prison… Johnny knew that from his previous visits to Dutch. They were given enough privacy to have an open conversation and there were no restrictions on physical contact. But that wasn’t what stopped Johnny from hugging his son. 

But the fact that that reproach would be the first thing out of his mouth…

“I needed some time...” Johnny said, looking down. “To… wrap my head around this thing.”

“Sure.” 

“How… how are you doing?” Johnny started with the first thing he could think of. 

“Like you care.” Robby scoffed back.

Not a good start. Not a good start at all. This wasn’t going to work if Robby was going to be angry and defensive as always. And while Johnny could hardly blame him for that, he was determined to make this work. 

“Robby, please.” He pleaded. “I just want to talk, okay? The two of us - always pissed off at each-other - look at where that has left us. Left you. So can we just… talk honestly for once? I just want to talk about us.”

He got a calculating look in return and he half expected Robby to mock him for this uncharacteristic display of emotions. But the teen just shrugged noncommittally instead. 

Johnny let out his breath in relief… and then realized that he had no idea where to start. He’d been so focused on the struggle of getting Robby to agree to open up that he’d never really thought about where to go from there. 

“Miguel’s gonna be okay, by the way.” He started. “He’s not awake yet, but the doctors said that he was out of danger for now. The recovery’s gonna be hard but… well, atleast he won’t die.”

“Okay.” Robby replied, his face expressionless. 

Johnny frowned at the reply. He’d expected… more. Relief, perhaps, at the knowledge that he hadn’t killed anyone. Or maybe guilt at almost having killed someone. He knew his son wasn’t a psychopath who didn’t feel anything… which could only mean that Robby still had his guard up.

“Okay?” Johnny asked. “That’s all you have to say about that?”

“Well, you said you wanted to talk about us.” Robby replied. “And the first thing you do is talk about Miguel. What am I supposed to say about that?”

Johnny shrank from the rebuke. Maybe that segue had been a mistake after all. 

“Sorry… I...” He shook his head. “I figured you’d want to know. His situation is a part of this after all, right?”

Robby shrugged again. 

_ Talk  _ **_to_ ** _ him, not at him.  _ He remembered Daniel’s words.  _ Show him that you care. _

“How are you dealing with all this?” Johnny asked. 

“Fine, I guess.” Robby replied. “The DA wants to charge me with attempted murder and try me as an adult. But Mr. LaRusso got me a lawyer and he says that it’s just grandstanding for the public. They just want to show that they are taking it seriously and make an example out of me - but in the end, they’d settle for a year in juvie.”

Johnny nodded. LaRusso had already updated him on the legal side of things… and it didn’t escape his notice that Robby had said nothing about how he was feeling.

“And… how are you dealing with that?” Johnny asked.

“Dunno.” Robby replied. “My lawyer says that unless something changes, I’ll have to take the deal eventually.”

He was still deflecting. 

Robby was scared - that much was Johnny was certain of. How could he not be? He was a kid who made a mistake and he was facing time in prison for it. No matter what reassurances he might’ve gotten, he had to be scared. 

And yet he wasn’t showing his own father even a hint of nervousness. 

“I mean… how do you feel about that?” Johnny said, cringing the words himself.

“How do I feel about that?” Robby repeated, smirking. “Did you seriously just ask me that?”

Nobody said an honest conversation was going to be easy. And if he wanted Robby to open up to him, he’d have to take the first step. He was still holding back himself, after all. Watching his words and trying not to give Robby any excuse to snap at him. But that was what he had to do - lay himself bare so Robby would feel comfortable doing the same. 

“I’m sorry… I just...” Johnny sighed. “I’m so sick of this, alright? I’m tired of us fighting all the time. I’m tired of always saying the wrong thing and pissing you off. I-I want to do the right thing… I just don’t know what’s that anymore.”

Robby squinted at him, trying to judge whether he was sincere. 

“Alright...” He said, cautiously. 

A opening. Not much of one, but an opening nevertheless. 

“I know I screwed up with you.” Johnny took the chance to admit it. “I know I wasn’t there for you. But I want to be. Robby, I-I… care about you. You are my son and I love you and I want to be there for you. So please… just let me.”

“Uh-huh...” Robby replied, still calculating his response. 

Stonewalled. Again. Somehow, the mask of stoicism that Johnny had been working on for over 50 years, Robby had perfected in mere 16. 

“Don’t do that. Please.” Johnny pleaded. “Don’t shut me out. Be honest with me. Tell me what you are thinking.”

“You really wanna know?” Robby asked, still suspicious. 

Johnny nodded. It probably wasn’t going to be good. Based on the little previews he’d gotten in their previous encounters, he was probably just inviting Robby to rip him a new one. But that was something he’d just have to go through to reach his son.

“I think you are full of shit.” Robby said.

“You think I’m making all this up?” Johnny asked. “That I’m lying to you?”

“No… I think you are lying to yourself.” Robby replied. “Every now and then, you realize you’ve been a shitty dad. And you try to make up for it by coming to talk to me. But then you get over it and go back to focusing on things that you really care about. I think that you think you mean it when you say you want to be there for me… but it’s not gonna last. Give it a few days and you’ll go back to obsessing over Cobra Kai and Mr. LaRusso and your students.”

Johnny blinked.

“No… that’s not...”

But it was true. Or atleast, Robby was justified in thinking like that. After all, he’d never really given him a reason to think otherwise.

“I’m… sorry...” Johnny stuttered out. “I’m sorry that I made you feel like that. But… I really do want to fix things between us. I’m trying to change.”

“Sure… heard that before.” Robby scoffed. 

“I am.” Johnny insisted. “Robby… what can I do to prove that to you?”

“How about you start by admitting the truth?” Robby snapped, with an edge to his voice. 

“The truth?” Johnny asked, nonplussed. Was Robby looking for something specific here?

“Why did it take you so long to come to see me?” Robby asked. “Why didn’t you check up on me the day it all happened?”

“I...” Johnny started and stopped. 

Why hadn’t he? 

It hadn’t been a conscious choice on his part to avoid Robby. It had just sort of happened. There was too much happening… he’d been too distressed and distracted… about Miguel… about Kreese…

_ And that’s what he’s talking about,  _ A voice in his head said snidely.  _ How can you say you care about him when you keep putting other things ahead of him. _

“You were pissed at me, weren’t you?” Robby asked, his mask slipping a little. “You hate me for what I did to Miguel. You  _ want  _ to see me punished. You  _ want  _ me to rot in here… but you know you are not supposed to want that and that’s why it took you so long.”

Was that what Robby really thought? How he really felt? 

“No… Robby...” Johnny began.

“C’mon dad. No one’s gonna blame you for that.” There was a hint of a tremor in Robby’s voice. “Miguel’s the one you really care about and I’m the monster who almost killed me. No one’s gonna blame you for not wanting to do anything with me.”

_ He’s hurting. He’s hurting and alone and feeling guilty… and he needs me. He needs me to tell him that he can come back from this, that it’s going to be okay. That there are still people who care about him.  _

_ And yet, he is not ready to believe me. _

“I do care about Miguel.” Johnny said, thickly. “But that doesn’t mean I care any less about you.”

Robby looked at him carefully… and then the mask was back again.

“Whatever.” He said, coldly. 

_ I’ve had enough of this shit. _

“No… don’t do that.” Johnny said, firmly. “Don’t shut me out. We need to talk about this.”

“Fine. Then talk about it.” Robby said, challenging.

That was the deal, right? They both had to be honest? Johnny sighed, uncertain of how to begin.

“Look… a lot has happened since you did what you did.” He started. No point in skirting around the issue. “I lost Cobra Kai… My students… they don’t want anything to do with me. And Carmen… Miguel’s mom… she doesn’t want me anywhere around him either.”

“Why?” Robby asked, curiously. “It wasn’t your fault that he got hurt.”

_ Wasn’t it?  _

But Johnny didn’t have the wherewithal to get into that particular debate. 

“My point is...” Johnny sighed again. He knew he had to admit to his failing… no matter how hard that admission was. “You are right. I should’ve been here for you from the get go. I was too much of a coward to face you. Maybe if I’d stepped up from the start, things wouldn’t have gotten this far.”

“What do you mean?” Robby frowned at him. 

“Maybe... if I’d been a good dad to you, you wouldn’t have been so angry.” Johnny shrugged uncertainly. “Maybe… you wouldn’t have hurt Miguel just to get back at me.”

“You think that’s why I did it?” Robby sounded offended. “To get back at you?”

“Didn’t you?” Johnny was taken aback.

“No!” Robby said angrily. “Not everything I do is about you, alright?”

“So… why did you…?”

“Almost kill him?” Robby finished. “I didn’t mean to. I never wanted to kick him over the railing.”

“But you did want to hurt him, right?” 

Robby pursed his lips, with a sullen look on his face. 

“Yeah.” He admitted, grudgingly. 

“Why?” Johnny asked, uncomprehending. “Robby, Miguel’s a good kid.”

“He started it.” Robby replied angrily. “ _ He  _ attacked  _ me.  _ I was trying to stop that crazy girl and Miguel came after me.”

“Robby...”

“And what the hell do you mean he’s a good kid?” Robby cut him off. “He made a move on my girlfriend.”

“S-she was his girlfriend first.” Johnny tried to argue.

“They broke up months ago.” Robby replied. “And she was drunk. He took advantage of her.”

“No...” Johnny shook his head firmly. “Miguel would never do that.”

“Just like he wouldn’t take advantage of an opponent’s injury?” Robby shot back.

It was no use, Johnny realized. They were teenagers… too wrapped up in their own narrative to see the other point of view. 

“And… you think that justifies hurting him?” Johnny asked. 

Robby went quiet at that for a moment.

“I already said I didn’t mean to kick him over.” He admitted sullenly. “I lost control.”

“Why?” Johnny asked. “Robby… he let you up. He could’ve broken your arm - but he showed mercy instead. He - ”

“I didn’t want him to win again, alright.” Robby interrupted. “I was tired of losing to him.”

“The tournament?” Johnny asked. He hadn’t thought that losing the match had meant that much to Robby.

“Yeah.” Robby replied. “And Sam… He wanted to win her back too. Act like the good guy so she’d take him back.”

Johnny sighed. It always ended up in the same place, didn’t it?

“Look, that’s not up to you, alright? Or Miguel.” Johnny said. “Whoever that girl chooses to be with… that’s her choice. She is not yours for him to steal.”

Even as he said those words, Johnny couldn’t help but acknowledge the hypocrisy there. For years he’d held a grudge against LaRusso for the exact same thing - and for him to be telling his son to get over it…

“Miguel has made some mistakes.” Johnny tried a different angle. “And that’s on me. I wasn’t… really a good teacher to him. I taught him some bad lessons and… well, I tried to fix that, but I guess that wasn’t good enough. You shouldn’t judge him for that.”

“Sure...” Robby said, his voice dripping with disdain. “He always ends up winning, doesn’t he?”

“What do you mean, Robby?” Johnny asked, sadly. “He’s in the hospital. He probably won’t even walk again. What exactly did he win?”

There was a flash of guilt on his face, but it was immediately replaced by the familiar mask.

“You. He won you.” Robby replied, coldly. “You are always gonna care more for him. You’ll always choose him over me.”

That was what it was really about? Robby was jealous because of all the attention Johnny had been paying Miguel?

“It’s not a competition.” Johnny argued. “Robby… just because I care about him doesn’t mean I care any less about you.”

Robby scoffed again. 

“I mean it.” Johnny insisted. “Robby, I didn’t choose him over you. Everything I did with Miguel… and for him… I want with you too.”

“Then why did you never even ask?” Robby asked, coldly. 

This was, perhaps, the hardest one yet. 

Johnny became aware of the drop of cold sweat flowing down the side of his face and realized that he’d been sweating for a while now. This conversation was forcing him to face the parts of himself that he never even knew existed. And this last one… it was forcing him to go where he’d never went before. 

“That wasn’t… it wasn’t about Miguel.” Johnny confessed. “I didn’t think you’d want to.”

“You never asked.” Robby repeated, coldly.

“I know.” Johnny nodded. “I was always a coward.”

Robby looked surprised at the confession and waited for him to go on. 

“I never really amounted to anything in my life.” Johnny confessed. “I… failed at everything I tried. But… for some reason… Miguel still believed in me. He looked at me like I could do more… be more… He looked at me and saw who I could be. And… I liked that. You only saw me as a failure.”

“So it’s my fault?” Robby asked, defensively. 

“No.” Johnny shook his head. “I just… did what was easy for me. What felt better. I didn’t have the balls to confront my failures and… I took the easy route.”

Robby went silent again, waiting for him to continue. 

“Miguel was easy...” Johnny went on. “He saw me as this great guy. He… listened to everything I said. And I didn’t have to be responsible for him… not really. He had his mom for that. We could just spend a couple of hours together every day and then he’d go home. He is like a son but… he’s not actually my son. I’m not responsible for him like I am for you. And with you… I was just so scared of screwing up that I screwed up by not being there at all.”

“And that’s supposed to make it better?” Robby asked, skeptically. “It amounts to the same thing in the end, doesn’t it? You not being there?”

Johnny nodded. That was something he couldn’t deny. No matter what his reasons, that didn’t change Robby’s situation one bit. 

“I want to change things, though.” He added. “I want to be a better father to you.”

“I’m not sure you can do that.” Robby replied. “I don’t think you care enough for that.”

Johnny blinked, surprised. That wasn’t a question he was prepared to face.

“I….” He shook his head. “What do you mean?”

Robby paused before answering, evaluating his response. 

“It’s just… what I’ve seen.” He explained quietly. “Like how Mr. LaRusso went nuts when Sam spent the night at your place.”

Johnny frowned. Daniel had lost his shit that day - but he’d apologized for that later. 

“He… made a mistake.” Johnny said, surprised at being the one to defend LaRusso.

Robby shook his head. “He did that because he cares about Sam. He cares so much that he can’t even think clearly when he is worried about her.” He looked up at his father. “And… I don’t think anyone will ever care about me like that.”

_ He thinks I’m never gonna care enough about him? _

“Robby… that’s not what you want.” Johnny said, carefully. “Acting on emotion like that… that just gets you in a mess.”

“No… that’s not...” Robby shook his head again, frustrated. “You don’t understand...”

But he did understand. He knew exactly what Robby was talking about and that was one thing he never wanted to give him. 

Robby wasn’t wrong. When you cared about something, truly and deeply, you often did end up losing all sense and reason when that thing was threatened. And Johnny himself had never been the most in-control guy to begin with. The number of times he’d lost his shit over small, immaterial things…But that’s where he was trying to be better. Losing his shit might show Robby that he cared, but it’d also make things worse for everyone all around. 

But that wasn’t what Robby truly wanted… or needed. 

“Look… I can’t promise you that I’m gonna lose my shit like LaRusso.” Johnny offered, quietly. “I mean… it’s not like that’s something I can plan, right? You won’t buy an act anyway.”

Robby frowned and nodded. 

“What you really want is for me to show you that I care about you, right?” Johnny went on. “And I’m gonna do that. I’ll figure out a way to show you. Okay?”

“Okay.” Robby said quietly. 

“So… can we start over? For real this time?” Johnny asked hopefully. 

Robby nodded, hesitating. “On one condition.”

“Anything.”

He knew he was probably going to regret that the moment he saw Robby steel himself. 

“I need you to help me get out of here.” Robby asked, determined.

Johnny sat there, frowning at the request. 

“Get out? Of juvie?” He looked around, evaluating his chances of them breaking out of there.

“I’m not talking about a jail-break.” Robby scoffed, amused, as he saw the expression on his face. “I meant I need you to help out with my case. I don’t… I don’t want to be in here.”

Johnny bit his lip. Robby was finally opening up to him, like he’d wanted him to. Ofcourse the kid felt guilty about what he did, but he was still a kid. He was scared of going to juvie… scared of living in there and scared of what it’d mean for his future. And there was nothing Johnny could do to help him.

“Ofcourse.” He reassured him. “I’ll do what I can… but Robby, it’s gonna be okay. Even if you have to be here for a while - ”

“It won’t be okay.” Robby cut him off. “You don’t know what it’s like in here. I won’t… I can’t...”

Johnny nodded sympathetically, putting a comforting hand over Robby’s. 

“Look… I’ll do whatever you need me to.” He told him. “But LaRusso already got you a good lawyer and I don’t know what else I can do to help.”

“You could help him make a case for self-defense.” Robby suggested quietly.

Johnny kept staring at him, uncomprehending. 

“It’s not that hard.” Robby explained. “Miguel did attack me. He had it out for me from the start. My lawyer could argue that I was just defending myself and his fall was an accident.”

“Huh...” Johnny shook his head. “No… they have the whole fight on camera, Robby. Everyone saw him let you go.” 

“The cameras didn’t catch everything.” Robby said. “Miguel only pretended to apologize. Before he let me go, he told me that he was still going to make me pay.”

Johnny stared at his son, steely-eyed. “Did LaRusso’s lawyer tell you to lie like that?”

“No - he can’t tell me to lie.” Robby replied. “He just explained to me that if we could establish that Miguel threatened me then we can make a good case for self-defense and I won’t have to do any time.”

Johnny scoffed. That was a distinction without a difference.

“It’s not gonna work.” He said. “They’ll know you are just making it up to get out of trouble.”

“That’s why I need your help.” 

“My...” Johnny shook his head. “I wasn’t even there. I’m not sure...”

“You can tell them that you told Miguel to go after me.” Robby explained. “You can say that you were pissed that I joined Mr. LaRusso’s dojo and that you wanted to punish me for that and you used Miguel to get back at me.”

Johnny was stunned speechless for a moment.

“That’s… not true.”

“What? You weren’t pissed at me for training with Mr. LaRusso?”

“No, I was... but...” Johnny shook his head. “I never told Miguel to go after you. The other kids at the dojo… they’ll tell the truth about that.”

Robby sighed. 

“Miguel was different though, right? You had a more personal relationship with him? You told him things you didn’t tell the others?” He spoke slowly, as if explaining it to a child. “We can use that. You can say that you told him privately to go after me and that’s what he threatened me with. And why I had to fight back.”

“But… it’s not true.” Johnny argued, helplessly. “And once Miguel wakes up, he’ll tell them that.”

“Not if you convince him not to.” Robby replied. “And… even if he does, we can say that he is lying because he wants me to go to prison. It’d be your word against his.”

Johnny kept staring, horrified and unable to comprehend what was being asked of him. 

“It won’t come to that, though.” Robby added. “My lawyer says we probably won’t have to go to trial with this. The DA will offer me a much better deal if he thinks he won’t win - probation or something - it’ll be over before Miguel ever wakes up.”

Johnny’s mouth opened and closed wordlessly as Robby waited for his answer. 

“I… can’t.” Johnny said, with some difficulty. 

The smaller hand under his own puddle away and Robby looked at him reproachfully. 

“You said you’d do anything.” He reminded him. 

“I meant… like… talking to the judge or something.” Johnny clarified. “Robby this… it’s wrong.”

“Since when do you care about that?”

Johnny swallowed, searching his mind for an explanation as to why his every instinct was screaming against this. 

“Miguel’s already been through enough.” He argued. “It won’t be right to make this all his fault.”

“He is not the one facing prison.” Robby replied. “No one’s gonna arrest him… not after what happened.” 

“That’s not what I mean.” Johnny explained. “Robby, what you are asking me to do… it will hurt him. And after everything...”

Robby leaned back with his cold mask back in place.

“And you’d rather send me to prison?”

Johnny suppressed a shudder. “You don’t get it...”

“No - I do get it.” Robby said in a chilly voice. “Like I said before - all that bullshit about caring for me was exactly that - bullshit. You were always gonna let me down the first chance you got.”

“That’s not fair.” Johnny said, his voice breaking. 

“I don’t care.” Robby replied. “You said you wanted to prove to me how much you cared? Well - this is your chance you do it. And if you can’t - then don’t you ever fucking pretend to care again.”

_ You don’t understand. You don’t know what you are asking me to do. I promised him… I gave him my word that I’ll always be on his side. That I’ll have his back. He showed mercy because he believed in me, because he trusted me and he got hurt because of it. And if I do what you ask, I’ll be letting him down. _

_ And if I don’t… I’ll be letting you down… _

Robby was getting up, turning to leave, declaring their conversations over. But it couldn’t be. There had to be another way. Some way for him to fix things… help his son without hurting anyone else. 

“Robby… please...” Johnny begged. 

“You are the one who wanted us to start over.” Robby said, without turning around. “If you do this for me - help me get out of here - then we can start over. Clean slate. And if you can’t… then I never want to see you again. It’s your choice now.”

He walked away, leaving Johnny with the impossible decision in his hands. 

**The End**

**Author's Note:**

> I see a lot of people arguing in the forums how things could be resolved if characters just talk to each-other - something I often disagree with. That’s the idea I wanted to explore in this one-shot. How despite being honest with each-other, things between Johnny and Robby can’t be resolved with just words. 
> 
> As for Johnny’s choice, I leave that to your imagination. Tell me in the comments what you think Johnny would or should choose.


End file.
